CORA ABSTRACT #III - 2

THE EFFICACY OF THE SPATIAL FRAME FOR CORRECTION OF TIBIAL DEFORMITIES

D. Viskontas

M.D. MacLeod

D.W. Sanders

The spatial frame is a new tool that aids in correcting complex tibial deformities. Its efficacy was evaluated.Eleven deformities in 10 patients were treated.The average age was 42 years. Seven patients were male and three were female.Three of the eleven deformities were single dimensional and the remaining eight were multidimensional.Seven patients had a primary diagnosis of medial compartment arthritis, two of which occurred secondary to proximal tibial malunions.One patient had a distal growth arrest and two others had isolated tibial deformities.The spatial frame was applied to all patients.One patient had a two level osteotomy with a coupled spatial frame application.No intraoperative complications occurred.The average latency was seven days and the average total time in the frame was 24 weeks.Residual corrections varied from zero to four.Nine patients met preoperative objectives.One patient aborted the correction.One non-union occurred after frame removal.Other complications were those common to all external fixators and were easily controlled.The spatial frame is a useful tool for the simultaneous correction of complicated tibial deformities.